Missed Chances
by vinskijay
Summary: Jeff and Annie rue their missed chance with each other.


As the last call for his flight was announced, Jeff stood at the gate looking at his boarding pass. In his heart he knew he was taking the cowardly route out but his mind tries to justify his actions. He was leaving for the good of the group. He was leaving because this would make life easier for Annie. But his heart knew the truth. He was a coward and just like always he was running away.

* * *

The problems had started on the day of his graduation. Whilst he was giving his graduation speech, he saw Annie sitting there, looking at him with those Disney eyes of hers, and it was that moment he realised that all the work he had put into making himself a better person, would be pointless, without him telling Annie how he felt about her.

The group had gone out for a graduation dinner and at the end of the evening Jeff pulled Annie aside and finally admitted everything to her. The response he got was not expected;

"_Jeff I want to thank you for admitting that I was right all those years ago and my mind had not made everything between us up. But I've changed. I've grown up. I no longer feel the same way about you. I wasn't in love with you. I was in love with the idea of being in love. I'm sorry. You're one of my best friends and I never want to lose you."_

This left Jeff gobsmacked. He could not believe that he had missed his chance with Annie. He went home and poured himself a glass of scotch. Taking a sip, he realised that drowning his sorrows was something that 'old Jeff' would do. He told himself that it didn't matter that Annie no longer wanted him. He still had her in his life as a friend and that is all that mattered.

However, things did change between them. Jeff and Annie started to find thing awkward between them. They no longer hung around together. Their conversations and interactions were forced. They were both trying too hard to be normal round each other. This created a huge amount of tension between them, which slowly started to affect the others in the group. Before long a split in the group had occurred. It wasn't instantly noticeable, but as Jeff and Annie spent less time with each other, the rest followed suit. As Annie's roommates, both Abed and Troy spent more time with Annie and saw less and less of Jeff. Britta and almost unexpectedly, Shirley, had started to spend more time with Jeff and this meant outside of school they did not see Annie, Troy or Abed. Pierce was the only member who somehow had managed to stay neutral in all of this.

All of this upheaval disturbed Jeff. The group was family to him. And watching them separate and knowing he was the cause of it all cut him deeply. He tried to find a solution to it, but always came up a blank. Then one day the solution came to him. His boss had asked him to help out with a major case, which was being handled by the New York office. His boss had asked him to co-chair the defence for the next three months and let him know this was a test for Jeff. If all went well, then the position in N.Y would become permanent. The answer hit Jeff in the face. If he was the cause of all the groups' problems, then by removing himself from the equation, the group would all gather round one another again. He instantly accepted the position.

He texted everyone the good news, leaving out that he would be moving permanently, and Shirley arranged a party the night before he left. Everyone turned up and for once the tension as out of the air and it was just like before anything had occurred. This pleased Jeff more than anything. If this was to be his final memory of the group, then he knew he had made the right decision. He said his goodbyes to everyone and left for his car. As he reached his car he heard someone running behind him. He looked around and saw Annie.

"Jeff? Why are you leaving?"

"I told you. This is a brilliant opportunity for me. Handling this case is going to erase a lot of the damage done to my career."

"I know that but is there any other reason?"

"I think we both know the real reason." He took a deep breath. "What happened between us has caused the group to fall apart. I can't let this continue. Everyone will be graduating soon. They need to keep their focus. Me being away will help everyone in the long run."

"Jeff you will be coming back, won't you?"

"You tell me. Is there any reason to stay?"

Annie just stood quietly, staring down at the ground.

"Well I have my answer. Goodbye Annie."

With that Jeff drove off. Annie wiped the tears falling from her eyes and walked back to her car.

* * *

_Annie was in a field full of small fires and debris. He could hear someone calling to her. As she neared the sound, she saw Jeff lying on the ground. A large section of debris was covering most of him, and a fire was raging near him. He was covered in blood and was calling out to Annie. She could not reach him due to the fire. She was frantically looking for a way to get to him when he let out a loud cry and closed his eyes forever as the fire slowly ravaged him. _

Annie awoke with a gasp. She was sweating and could feel something was very wrong. She crawled out of bed to get a glass of water. As she stepped out into the living room of Casa de Trobed, she noticed the whole study group was present. As she looked closer she noticed that most of the group had been crying, even Abed looked affected.

"Guys? What's going on? What's wrong?"

Shirley stepped forward. "Annie there's been an accident. Jeff plane hit some trouble and crashed." She pulled Annie into a deep hug. "There were no survivors."

Annie extracted herself from Shirley's embrace and slowly stepped back. The rest of the group looked on with some concern.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Annie. "It's my entire fault. I could have stopped him. I should have told him the truth."

With this she fled back to her room, unable to stop the sobs.

The next couple of days were a blur to Annie. She had taken refuge in her room and refused to see or speak to anyone. She knew she was to blame for Jeff's death. He had left because of her and now she would never get to see him again. Worst of all, when the group found out the truth, they would all blame her as well. Not only had she lost Jeff, but she would also lose her family. She started to feel claustrophobic in the room. She needed to get out. She grabbed her keys and coat and ran out of the apartment before anyone could stop her.

She somehow managed to find herself outside Jeff's apartment. She opened the door with her spare key and walked in. The place still smelled of Jeff and it was as though he was still here. She walked around expecting him to pop out at any moment, but the place was empty. Annie went into Jeff's bedroom and grabbed a shirt out of cupboard. She put it on and it instantly felt as though Jeff was embracing her. She laid down on Jeff's bed and with her exhausted mind relaxed she drifted off to sleep.

Annie felt an arm wrap around her. She opened he eyes to find Jeff looking down on her.

"Jeff your here." She slowly stroked his cheek. "I knew you would never leave me."

"Annie..."

"No Jeff let me speak. I'm sorry about everything. I was only trying to protect myself. I was hurt by you so much in the past that I couldn't go through that again. But now I know the truth. I love you. And I want you so much."

Annie suddenly burst out into tears and started to sob.

"Annie what's wrong why are you crying?"

"I love you so much Jeff...and now you're no longer here."

"Ummm...Annie I'm right here with you."

"No Jeff I know this is dream. I'll soon wake up and you'll be gone and I'll be left..."

Annie was cut off by Jeff leaning down and kissing her deeply. He broke off their kiss and whispered to her; "does that not feel real?"

"Oh my god it's really you. You're really here!"

"Yes Annie. Like I said before, I'm here right with you."

"But...how. Where have you been?"

"Well when you don't board a plane, which then mysteriously crashes, the FBI have a lot of questions to ask you. They only released me a few hours ago."

"You didn't board the plane?"

"No. When the final call to board came I realised that I may have told you I was serious about you, but I had never given you any proof. So I decided to stop being a coward and to stay and fight for your love." Jeff took a deep breath and looked into Annie's eyes. "Annie I love you and I know I have no right to ask you for another chance, but believe me if you do, I will spend the future showing you that you have not made a mistake."

Annie simply pulled Jeff into a deep embrace.

"Is that a yes?"

"God Jeff, of course it's a yes. When it's you it'll always be a yes."

She looked up and returned the deep kiss Jeff had given her earlier. As he tried to deepen it further, Annie suddenly pulled away.

"Jeff where's your phone?"

"My phone? The FBI still has it. They said they'll give it back to me later. Why?"

"Come on get up and get your car. We have to let the other know you're alive."

"Annie relax. It's half one at night. We'll tell them in the morning. Come here and get some sleep."

Annie crawled in next to Jeff and he wrapped his arms around her. She put her head onto Jeff's chest and on hearing his beating heart she slowly drifted off to sleep, glad that this time both she and Jeff had not missed their chance at being together.


End file.
